How Sweeet It Is: The Bakery at Skylon Tower

I usually research my subjects carefully before I take on writing a feature. I had written about The Skylon Tower numerous times before, so imagine my surprise to find out that there is a very impressive in-house bakery hidden on the lower level of the tower.

I was greeted at The Bakery, as it’s affectionately known by John Zizian, the Pâtissier, and overseer of all the sweet goodness that comes out of his spotless and very organized kitchen. John is classically trained in pastries and baked goods and prides himself on having been with The Skylon since 1993.

As he walked me through the immaculate workspace and gave me a guided tour, John pointed out that everything dessert is made from scratch. He had just finished cracking and separating over 100 eggs, extracting the whites, whipping them up into a gigantic foam, ready to be baked into 13 sponge cakes.

“It’s all chemistry and math,” John says. “With baking, it’s all about consistency and technique – once everything is mixed, if there’s been a mistake, we start it over from the beginning. We can’t take out too much salt from batter.”

Watching how this well-oiled machine works, I doubt that this happens very often.

Because the two dining rooms, The Revolving Dining Room and The Summit Suite Buffet are at the top of the tower, space is at a premium and is reserved for dining tables where guests can get the ultimate view of Niagara’s thundering waters and surrounding areas. Although equipped with fully-functional kitchens, all foods are prepped on the lower level, then transported up via the “Yellow Bug” where the dishes are finished. Steaks are cut to order, and calamari is hand-breaded.

Regardless of whether your palate prefers savory or sweet, a meal at either of The Skylon’s restaurants will be made up of only the top-of-the-line ingredients.

In The Revolving Dining Room, guests have the choice of many desserts which are the perfect way to end a glorious meal, overlooking the lights on and the fireworks over The Falls. There are three types of cheesecake: Skylon’s Baked Praline Cheesecake, served with whipped cream and candied pecans; Freshly Baked Vanilla Cheesecake, served with strawberry or raspberry sauce; or Chocolate “Velvet” Cheesecake, topped with a pecan and coconut nougat with drizzles of caramel and chocolate sauces. Of course, another favourite is Skylon’s Warm Pecan Pie, served à la mode with vanilla ice cream. For the chocolate lovers out there, there is a Chocolate Amaretto Torte, garnished with toasted almonds, which uses only the finest Belgian dark chocolate. For those who really want a decadent dessert, Skylon’s famous Crème Brulée is a real crowd-pleaser and is caramelized to order. For those favoring something more traditional, there is an individually baked Apple Pie à la mode served warm and topped with caramel sauce.

What is most fascinating is learning how much time and imagination goes into the process of creating these amazing desserts.

The pecan pie has a scratch made sugar cookie crust instead of the traditional pie crust. John assured me that I will never taste anything like it anywhere else. “We really like to do things differently here,” he adds with a smile, as we make our way up in the “Yellow Bug” to The Revolving Dining Room so that I can sample some of this sweetness. It was all there for my asking, taking, AND tasting! All full size!

Of course, I had to try the Chocolate Amaretto Torte. It was smooth and delightful, filled with amazing chocolate flavor. I do love chocolate, but I often find cakes to be too much. Not this one! I don’t know what the secret ingredient is, but it kept the torte from being cloyingly sweet. I moved onto the individual Apple Pie which was served warm with beautiful vanilla ice-cream making it À la Mode. The drizzle of scratch caramel sauce was a nice touch. First of all, this dessert can easily be shared as it is enormous as are the portions for all of Skylon’s desserts. As I cut into it, John watched for my reaction. “What do you think?” he asked. “That’s not apple pie filling,” I answered. “Nope! We make our apple pie with an apple crumble filling!” Let’s just say, it was a crunchy, and a very pleasant surprise. In fact, I didn’t just taste this dessert, I went back and finished it! AND, I also finished the cheesecake!

Let’s talk about that cheesecake! “It’s all in how it’s made,” says John. “The process from start to plate takes 24 hours, as does the crème brulée.” I was presented with a very generous portion of vanilla cheesecake topped with homemade strawberry sauce. Something happened in my mouth when I slipped that bite of cheesecake off the fork… it is HEAVENLY! I know cheesecake and it’s my go-to order for dessert whenever I go out for a meal. But THIS! This cheesecake has something in it that I couldn’t quite pinpoint, and I pride myself on my discerning palate. When I pressed John, he smiled coyly, and admitted, “Yes, there is an ingredient in our cheesecake that you won’t find in traditional baked cheesecakes anywhere. I can’t tell you what it is, but I’m glad you were able to pick out that there’s something different. You should come closer to Christmas and try our candy-cane cheesecake,” he added. “At first, I wasn’t sure about it, but the combination of mint and the crunchy candy pieces, with our vanilla cheesecake – well, it was a HUGE hit! We’re planning it again this year!”

Needless to say, I left the Revolving Dining Room very sated and very happy, having also enjoyed a lovely cappuccino along with the desserts.

The Skylon Tower is the perfect place to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions of any kind and The Bakery will be happy to provide a custom cake order to make for a truly special evening, but they do require 48 hours advance notice.

Special thanks to Pâtissier, John Zizian, Theresa La Fratta, Customer Service Sales Coordinator, and to Anita PengHrepic, Director of Sales and Marketing.